Total pages in book: 35
Estimated words: 33546 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 168(@200wpm)___ 134(@250wpm)___ 112(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 33546 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 168(@200wpm)___ 134(@250wpm)___ 112(@300wpm)
I opened it and was surprised to find Tucker standing there. It was only ten, and the bar shouldn’t have closed yet.
My breath hitched. “What are you doing here?”
His eyes traveled down to my breasts. I’d taken my bra off.
“Why did you leave the bar?” he asked, walking past me and into my house.
“You saw me?”
“Yeah. I saw you leave the bathroom and walk right out the door.”
“I came to say hello to you, but you seemed…busy.”
“Busy because I was working and talking to a patron, like I do every night? You made the wrong assumption.”
“How are you even here, and not there? You’re not closed yet.”
“I had someone cover for me, Lucy. I’m the boss. I can leave whenever I want.”
“You left early to come talk to me?”
“Didn’t you leave the bar early, too, when you came to talk to me?” His eyes veered downward again, and I covered myself with my arms.
“You just ended my peepshow,” he said, his voice a growl.
I cleared my throat. “Yeah, well, I’d be wearing a bra if I’d known you were coming by.”
“If you answering the door with no bra is what I get for stopping by unannounced, I might plan more impromptu visits.” He winked. “I’m kidding.” He muttered, “Sort of.”
I lowered my arms and walked over to grab my hoodie draped over the back of a chair. “I did want to see you,” I admitted as I zipped it up.
“Did it have something to do with a certain decision I asked you to make the last time we were together?”
My body tingled at the mere thought of his naked body. “I’m confused about what to do with you.”
“I have an idea of what you can do with me.”
I rolled my eyes. “I can’t tell if you’re serious. But even if you are, I need more than just, you know…” As much as it seemed I did want that with him.
He cocked his head. “You think I’m only after one thing?”
“That’s one of my fears when it comes to you.”
“I’m sorry if I spooked you by being forward. That’s just my personality.”
I raised a brow. “So you do this with everyone?”
“No. Not at all. But if I want something, I try to make that clear. Not sure how I can be any clearer.”
“Okay then. I’m not looking for a relationship that’s purely physical.”
“You’re not looking for fucking amazing sex with someone who has the utmost respect for you?” He inched closer.
My body was on fire as I looked down at his strong, tattooed arms. Despite the arousal burning through me, I managed to say, “I’m not just looking for sex.”
“And what makes you think that’s all I want?”
“I don’t know. I just assumed—”
The doorbell rang.
“Shit,” I muttered.
Tucker’s eyes narrowed. “Who’s that?”
I peeked out the window to see Maggie’s car outside. “It’s your sister,” I said, heading toward the door.
“Fuck.”
I opened. “Hey.” I let out a shaky breath as I ran a hand through my hair. “What are you doing here?”
“I came to see how your date went, since I was on my way home.” She noticed Tucker. “What are you doing here?”
Tucker looked over at me and proceeded to lie. “I followed Lucy home from the bar to make sure she was okay because I noticed this weird dude leave right after her. I got paranoid that maybe he was following her.”
“Oh shit. That’s scary.” She turned to me. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah.” I exhaled. “False alarm.”
“Unfortunately, it’s another weird dude she has to be more concerned about…” He winked at me.
“Huh?” Maggie looked confused.
I shot daggers at Tucker.
“Wait. Why were you at the bar tonight, Lucy? I thought you were on a date with Mr. Side-Part. Lorne?”
“I was. I stopped by after.”
Maggie frowned. “The date was a dud?”
“Yeah, kind of. Lorne is a great guy. But I wasn’t into him. We used all our spark on the first date.”
“Darn it. I was sure he was the one.” She sighed. “Well, once again I’m gonna have to work even harder to find you a match.”
I looked over at Tucker and noticed his sullen expression. “I’ll have my marker ready,” he said with a sigh.
CHAPTER 5
* * *
Lucy
Tucker hasn’t looked my way once.
The following week, Maggie’s Twelve Dates of Christmas fiasco was almost at an end. I hadn’t heard from her since the night she’d stopped by my house and found Tucker, so I thought—no, I hoped—that meant she was done trying to fix me up. But no such luck. This afternoon she’d texted me to be at the bar at six o’clock. She said she’d found the perfect guy for me. Again.
I tried to say I had to work late and couldn’t make it, but she just made the time later. Two other excuses hadn’t worked either, so here I was, on a date with Patrick Hastings—a dentist from the Upper East Side. He was nice enough, but I found it difficult to concentrate on the man in front of me when a certain other man was behind the bar twenty feet away.